


Chapter 2: Don't cry in the darkness

by Alyzah_x769



Series: Of summer storms and heavy hearts [2]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), UP10TION
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 19:58:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19383673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alyzah_x769/pseuds/Alyzah_x769
Summary: Just drabbles of fluff ♡ In which Wooseok and Jinhyuk find comfort in each other.





	Chapter 2: Don't cry in the darkness

**Author's Note:**

> 2nd chapter :) Sorry it's a bit lengthy haha, Enjoy~♡ (Comments and constructive criticisms are welcome, please don't flame me haha ><)

The alarm blares at 7am, the cursed X1-ma song echoing down the hallways and throughout the dorms.

Wooseok squints, wiping the sleep from his eyes as the first rays of morning sunlight seeps through the windows. It feels too early to be awake, but then again, today's the day of their position battle, and on set rehersal starts in an hour and a half. There's no time to be resting.

Wooseok watches the rest of his group members blink awake, hair tousled and dishelved, stretching their sore limbs as they drag themselves out of bed. Minkyu is the first one awake, already dressed and in the midst of washing up. His eyes meets Wooseok and he bows politely, giving a gentle smile and a "Good morning", before finishing up his morning routine. Wooseok admires the discipline and well mannered nature of the boy. Minkyu is mature for his age, but despite his warm disposition, Wooseok is all too aware of the worries and burdens on his shoulders that he does not say. It endears him to Wooseok.

Speaking of endearing, Wooseok is suddenly aware of the warm body pressed against his side. He looks down, and smiles fondly at Jinhyuk's sleeping figure, his face devoid of stress and anxiety. It's so blissfully peaceful, Wooseok thinks. 

Jinwoo is the next awake, sitting on the bed across Wooseok. The small boy notices the figure sleeping soundly next to Wooseok, tilting his head slightly to the side, confused as to why Jinhyuk would be in their group's dorms. 

'Is Appa alright? Is he sick?' Jinwoo catches Wooseok's attention, and mouths the words, afraid to wake Jinhyuk up. Wooseok finds it adorable. 

'Don't worry Haenami, Jinhyukkie is fine, just sleeping.' Wooseok mouths back, reassuring the younger. Jinwoo makes an 'Oh' expression, before giving Wooseok his signature Haenami smile, to which Wooseok returns, both hands up. Jinwoo nods, pleased, getting off the bed and heading off to find the other hyungs. Wooseok finds his cheerful nature adorable. 

He turns his attention again towards Jinhyuk, who seems almost dead to the world. "I wish you would always be like this, worry free. Frowns don't suit you very well. I'd much prefer you happy." Wooseok mutters softly, watching Jinhyuk's even breathing.

It is at this timely manner, Jinhyuk begins to stir awake. The light entering his retinas blinds him for a minute, and he squints his eyes shut, adjusting to the sudden brightness. The next thing he notices (when his eyes are no longer blinded by the morning sun) is that Wooseok is watching him on his right. He momentarily wonders why Wooseok is in his dorm, in his bed, when the events of last night (more like this morning) returns back to him. That it's him who's in Wooseok's dorm, not the other way around. That he crashed Wooseok's bed at 4am in the morning (without showering, he might add) and he curses himself for being so blur.

"Good morning." Wooseok says, smiling a little too brightly, seemingly aware of Jinhyuk's sudden epiphany and amused by the situation.

"Good morning." Jinhyuk yawns as he sits up, giving Wooseok a smile. 

"Slept well?"

Jinhyuk nods. "Wished it were longer, I need sleep." 

"I can imagine, you were completely out of it this morning." Wooseok smirks, earning a laugh from Jinhyuk. 

"Aish, cut me some slack, I'm tanking an entire team right now." Jinhyuk jokingly replies, but Wooseok can tell he's only half joking, not when the smile doesn't really reach his eyes this time.

"Hey, you guys are going to be great tonight. You are going to be great." Wooseok clasp Jinhyuk's hands in his, and Jinhyuk feels the sincerity in his eyes. 

"Yeah, I think so too." Jinhyuk responds, giving Wooseok and small but genuine smile. Wooseok can tell he's still anxious, but that's the best he can get out of him right now.

"Good, now go shower, you stink." Wooseok promptly pushes Jinhyuk in the direction of the door, off the bed.

Jinhyuk laughs, getting out of the bed before Wooseok has the chance to push him off and onto the cold hard floor. "Thanks for letting me crash your bed this morning."

Wooseok waves him off. "Anytime. You know I'm always here."

Jinhyuk nods. "I know."

"Good luck for tonight."

"You too. Fighting!"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ 

The last note of Turtleship resonates in the air. Jinhyuk still feels the adrenaline pumping in his veins, his feet still bouncing from when they landed from the jump, his breaths coming out in short pants. Did they do well? Jinhyuk glances at the rest of his teammates. There wasn't any major mistakes, so they didn't do too badly right?

"Jinhyuk-ah"

Before his mind can wander any further, Jinhyuk turns to face the owner of the voice, who happens to be Trainer Jaesung.

There's a momentary silence, the sort that's there for suspense during broadcasts which Jinhyuk absolutely hates (though it's merely the trainers collecting their thoughts).

"It's like you've made something out of nothing."

The minute the words leave his mouth, Jinhyuk releases a breath he didn't know he was holding. There's a collective sigh amongst all his members, and Jinhyuk can't help the smile that spreads across his face. He glances around at his teammates, who begin bowing and thanking him for all his hard work, and he can't help but feel a surge of pride. Towards the members who followed him well, towards all their efforts for this performance, and towards himself for surviving through this.

The trainers continue to sing praises of their group, which only serves to make Jinhyuk grin wider. From the stage, his eyes glances across the other trainees, and locks onto Wooseok, who gives him a thumbs up and a smile that's a mixture of: 'You've worked hard', and 'I told you so.' 

Their team gets off the stage, hi-fiving each other as their climb down the stairs. All that's left is the actual performance.

Jinhyuk leaves feeling more confident than he's been for the past week. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Their performance proceeds without a hitch, exactly like how they rehearsed. The fans' screams are deafening, and later, when the results of their performance announces Jinhyuk ranked first in his team, he's on cloud nine.

Their team returns to the waiting room just as Team 'To my Youth' are about to leave to backstage. Jinhyuk shoots Wooseok a wide grin, mouthing the words "Good luck, you'll be great." Wooseok returns it with a faint smile, and something about it seems off, stopping Jinhyuk in his tracks. 'Is he nervous?' Jinhyuk thinks, as his eyes follow Wooseok till he disappears pass the door. 

Unsurprisingly, Wooseok's team give an amazing performance. Their team captured the emotions of the song perfectly, leaving a bittersweet feeling amongst the trainees in the room. Jinhyuk sees Dongpyo a few seats down, sniffling, and a few other trainees in the room holding back tears. He smiles proudly at Wooseok through the screen, knowing he led the team well and did a good job.

So Jinhyuk isn't prepared when he sees Wooseok break down on TV. He sees Wooseok turn his back from the audience, hears the muffled sobs. Jinhyuk's heart clenches at the sight. 

"Throughout this programme, I tried not to cry in front of the National Producers." Jinhyuk listens to Wooseok speak through the screen, hearing Wooseok choke back on tears. "But the song is so unexpectedly sad."

Jinhyuk releases a heavy sigh, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. Because he knows where Wooseok's tears are coming from, only just realises how the song seems to mirror a part of Wooseok's life. Jinhyuk wishes he had looked out for him more, and a part of him feels guilty. 

The members from 'To my Youth' return to the waiting room, smiling and chatting amongst themselves, and are greeted by cheers and applause from the rest of the trainees. Jinhyuk expects to see Wooseok amongst them, and he's all ready to go up to him and envelope him in a big hug. But Wooseok isn't there.

"Haenami, where is Wooseokkie?" Jinhyuk directs his question at Jinwoo, suppressing is anxiety.

"Uh, I'm not sure. I didn't see him after the results of our group was released." Jinwoo replies, perplexed.

"Wooseok-hyung said he was going to the washroom." Minkyu says, returning back to his seat.

'The washroom?' Jinhyuk thinks. "Ah okays, thanks Minkyu-ah"

10 minutes later, Wooseok still hasn't returned. In all honesty, Jinhyuk expected this. That a simple 'he's in the washroom' doesn't necessarily mean Wooseok is just using the washroom. As the next team is called to be on standby for their performance, Jinhyuk slips out of the waiting room into the hallways, in search of Wooseok. 

He checks the washroom, just in case Wooseok is actually there and that he's just being paranoid and overly protective. But expectedly, Wooseok is no where to be seen. 

"Where could he have gone?" Jinhyuk frowns, his fingers curling and uncurling as he glances up and down the corridor. It's not the first time this has happened. Not the hiding, not the breakdowns. The situation feels oddly dejavu, and Jinhyuk shudders at the memory. The memory of 1 and 1/2 years ago.

Jinhyuk knows. He knows the reasons for Wooseok's tears. Knows how sensitive Wooseok is, even if he doesn't normally talk about his own emotions. Knows how he suppresses his feelings and hides his pain away from people. He knows Wooseok isn't the one to turn to people for help first, and he knows later, Wooseok will just smile and pretend nothing happened, like nothing's wrong. All the more he has to find him, Jinhyuk tells himself.

In the midst of his thoughts, his feet had brought him to the end of the corridor, towards a flight of stairs. Jinhyuk glances up, seeing how the stairs extends to the rooftop of the broadcasting hub. Gut instincts tells him that Wooseok is up there, and the whole situation reminds him so much of the past, Jinhyuk can't help the feeling of dread that pools at the pit of his stomach. 

"During those beautiful beautiful days, I was in pain."

Jinhyuk arrives at the top of the stairs, hears Wooseok's voice through the door left ajar.

"I hated myself for not being able to receive love." 

Slowly, Jinhyuk walks up to Wooseok, immediately wrapping him in a hug, causing Wooseok to jump and turn his head to the side. Jinhyuk sees the red rimmed eyes, the tear stains on Wooseok's cheeks and he can't help but carefully wipe them away with the back of his thumb. The gesture causes Wooseok to droop his head, averting his gaze from Jinhyuk, absentmindedly biting his lip.

Jinhyuk sighs, plonking himself next to Wooseok, who refuses to meet Jinhyuk's eyes. He wants to say something, something along the lines of "Are you okay?" or "What are you doing up here?", but he shoves those questions aside and settles for: "The view is pretty from up here."

The view is, in fact, very pretty, regardless of the situation. It's a full moon tonight, the moonlight giving the city an ethereal glow. Far away, the city lights shine and Jinhyuk can almost see the buzzling of people along the streets, the cars speeding past along the roads. For a moment, Jinhyuk forgets he's in a survival show, fighting for debut, fighting to make his band known. For a moment, all he knows is that he's here, alive, with Wooseok by his side.

There's an oddly comfortable silence between them, and Jinhyuk doesnt try to start a conversation, giving Wooseok the time and space he needs, his presence merely reminding him that he's here, that he isn't alone.

"I'm alright, really." Wooseok breaks the silence 5 minutes later. 

Jinhyuk hums, slinging one arm around Wooseok's shoulder and gently pushing Wooseok to lean his head against Jinhyuk's shoulder. "I know."

They stay like this for a while, before Jinhyuk decides to speak up. "Whatever you're thinking of, it's in the past. You're here now, with us, with me. The past can't hurt you anymore." 

Wooseok tenses at the words, but slowly relaxes as Jinhyuk rakes his hand through Wooseok's hair. 

"You shouldn't have to cry alone. You know I'm here too, right?"

Wooseok nods, burying his face in Jinhyuk's shirt, willing himself not to cry. 

"Eh if you cry alone, I'll feel like a bad friend." Jinhyuk jokes, and Wooseok gives a faint smile at Jinhyuk's attempt of lightening the situation.

"I want to celebrate with you when you're happy, be there for you when you're sad, cheer you up when you're tired."Jinhyuk continues, caressing Wooseok and gently stroking his hair. Fresh tears pools at the corner of Wooseok's eyes, dampening Jinhyuk's costume. Jinhyuk doesn't comment. 

"Let me be there for you. Don't cry in the darkness."


End file.
